De ODD Dacta is a wonderful man. Smart but not wise. At once obfuscatory, deceptive, and delusional, he possesses the remarkable ability fi change up im mout, shifts blame on to others for his failure, while, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, claims success for himself.

He accuses his political opponents of that for which he is most guilty — taking the Jamaican people fi eediat. But I am not a psychiatrist.

He, let’s be reminded, was at one time the leading acolyte of the nabob who invented the fabled five in four.

Let’s take instead this matter of economic growth. In the just- concluded budget debate, De Dacta would have us believe that the economy is “rebounding”, that the pace and magnitude of economic growth is astounding, that jobs are being “restored” and that Jamaica is well and truly on its way to pre-COVID nirvana.

Quoting statistics provided by his trusty partner, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he shows that Jamaica’s per capita income is lower today in real terms than it was in 1972. Yes, there have been “external shocks”, but the main cause of the country’s historical malady, he posits, has been the pursuit of “unsustainable economic policies”. The clear implication is that if “fiscal discipline” were to be maintained and “consistently sustainable policy choices” were made, as presumably he is now making, then economic growth would increase tenfold in the next 50 years. It is all magical fantasy. Make-believe. And we have heard it before from di fabulous Dacta himself.

In January 2020, shortly before the pandemic, despite clear evidence that the economy was in a recession, De Dacta was busy deceptively claiming 19 consecutive quarters of economic growth, the result of “sensible policy choices”. Yet he must have known that in the last six-and-a-half years prior to January 2020, which is to say the entire period of the IMF/People’s National Party/Jamaica Labour Party austerity programme, growth was anaemic, as the recent IMF Article IV statement, that he is so fond of referencing, clearly demonstrates.

For almost seven pre-COVID-19 years of “sustainable policy choices”, there was not one scintilla of economic growth. In fact, in November 2019, at the formal end of the IMF reform programme, the economy was heading into recession. Yet De Dacta and his ilk from the media, the academy, and corporatocracy were all at one about “monumental achievements” and HMLO, not wanting to be left off the credit roll, spoke of “economic buoyancy”, the “legacy” of Peter Phillips.

But is there reason to be optimistic? Well, there is nothing from the past to suggest that the future will be bright. Between 2010 and 2019, growth, which barely kept pace with population increase, was a mere 0.6 per cent per annum. This before a pandemic, war in Europe and soaring commodity prices.

Moreover, real gross domestic product (GDP) per capita is at the same level today as it was in 1970 and in the last 25 years, growth has exceeded two per cent only twice. Growth as high as 6.0 per cent in 2021 is not real; it is phantasmagoric. It appears to be real, because the 2020 comparator was so low. It is economic legerdemain. The Bank of Jamaica is a bit more credible. It has said: “Over the medium-term GDP growth is projected to average in the range 1.0 per cent to 2.0 per cent per year, which is lower than the previous projections.” With war in Ukraine and commodity prices on the rise, what faces Jamaica is stagflation – stagnant growth and runaway inflation.

And what were the “major highlights” of De Dacta’s fiscal surplus-generating, debt-reducing, austerity budget? Just two. Perhaps three. A four-month supply of crumbs to some Jamaica Public Service customers; and a $25,000 appeasement of lawless taxi drivers who have to be induced to keep the peace, while the Jamaica Urban Transit Company is starved to death. Poor people, meanwhile, can gwaan hold it, beg a likkle ting from farin, continue to exercise personal responsibility and seek solace in gambling, weed, alcohol and a liberated dancehall.

I have nothing to say about the other “highlight” of the budget, the $34-billion revenue distraction.

Helene Davis-Whyte, a trade unionist, seduced by an empty promise of compensation review, says the budget offers hope. Seriously?

Audley Rodriques is ambassador emeritus and former top Jamaica envoy to Venezuela and Kuwait.